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Main:Vera Kolesnikova
Perlevka, Voronezh Oblast, Russian SFSR, USSR |Row 3 title = Club |Row 3 info = Spartak |Row 4 title = Coach(es) |Row 4 info = Rima Aleksandrova Nikolai Vodianikh (former) |Row 5 title = Years on National Team |Row 5 info = 1982-1988 |Row 6 title = Current status |Row 6 info = Retired}} Vera Kolesnikova (Russian: Вера Колесникова, born on October 7, 1968 in Perlevka) is a retired gymnast from the former Soviet Union. She was a member of the Soviet National team for six years, and helped the USSR win a World team gold medal in 1985. She also won the all-around at the 1986 Goodwill Games. After retiring from competitive gymnastics, Kolesnikova married Aleksandr Komov, also a Russian gymnast. They have two children, Aleksandr (named after his father) and Viktoria, who was one of Russia's top gymnasts and won two silver medals at the 2012 Olympics. Junior Career Kolesnikova began competing at elite level in 1981, at the Junior Medico Cup, where she won the all-around. She went on to compete in the Schoolchildren's Spartakiade, where she placed fourth with her team and third in the all-around. In 1982, her only competition was the Junior USSR Championships, where she placed seventeenth in the all-around. Senior Career In 1983, Kolesnikova began competing as a senior elite gymnast. She placed second in the all-around at the Catania Cup, first on floor exercise at the RSFSR Championships, twelfth in the all-around at the Junior USSR Championships, and second in the all-around at the USSR Special Sports School Championships. She also competed in the Gymnastics Hit Parade of Rome (second on uneven bars and balance beam and third on vault), the Riga International (tenth in the all-around and third on vault), and the USSR Cup (third in the all-around, fourth on vault, and fifth on floor exercise). In 1984, Kolesnikova started off her season by winning silver in the all-around at the Catania Cup. She then competed at the USSR Championships and placed second in the all-around and on balance beam. She also won the all-around and vault, placed second on floor exercise, and sixth on balance beam at the Moscow News meet. However, the Soviet Union boycotted the Olympics in Los Angeles, so Kolesnikova did not get the chance to become an Olympian. Kolesnikova continued to compete after the Los Angeles Olympics. She started at the 1985 Australian Games, where she won the all-around, vault, and uneven bars, and placed fourth on balance beam. She also placed third on vault and balance beam, and placed tenth in the all-around at the Chunichi Cup, then placed a disappointing forty-seventh in the all-around at the Riga International. She rallied at the Tokyo Cup, placing third on balance beam and fourth on uneven bars. She then placed fourth on uneven bars and sixth in the all-around and on floor exercise at the USSR Cup. Kolesnikova was named to the Soviet team for the World Championships in Montreal, Canada. She didn't qualify to the all-around or any individual event finals, but her scores in the team final contributed to the Soviets' first place finish. In 1986, Kolesnikova's big moment came at the Goodwill Games. She won gold with the team, in the all-around, and on balance beam, and won silver on uneven bars. Later, at the USA-USSR dual meet, she won gold with the team and bronze in the all-around. She also won silver in the all-around, bronze on uneven bars, placed fifth on floor exercise, and seventh on vault at the USSR Cup. In 1987, Kolesnikova competed at the University Games, where she won gold with the team and silver in the all-around, on uneven bars and floor exercise. She also placed seventh on uneven bars at the USSR Championships and tenth in the all-around at the USSR Cup. In 1988, Kolesnikova placed eighth in the all-around at the USSR Championships, but then placed a disappointing twenty-fourth at the USSR Cup. She was not selected to the Soviet team for the Olympics in Seoul and retired later that year. Medal Count